History and State Coercion in the Arab Spring

In this chapter, the author proposes the need to study the colonial and postcolonial nexus of coercion in Arab states in order to explore how the coercive apparatus in the region was tied to a colonial formation, through postcolonial configurations of states. In doing so, the author argues against the dominance of presentism and methodological nationalism in the study of Arab states. While focusing on the cases of Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, the author demonstrates that one cannot understand the role coercion played in the Arab Spring and its trajectory or the new wave of repression after the Arab Spring as an insulated contemporary problem. The author interrogates the existence of paramilitary groups and the entanglements of coercion with regional and international postcolonial politics. The analysis reveals that understanding the central problems related to the coercive apparatus of Arab states necessitates situating them within their foundation—that is, within the colonial and postcolonial contexts out of which they emerged.

Anticolonialism and the Decolonization of Political Theory

This essay surveys some recent attempts to decolonize political theory and engage with non-western political thinkers and traditions, especially anticolonialism. Our concern is that these engagements remain too centered on western political thought as the object of critique and analysis. Through the example of Gandhi and Fanon, we argue that anticolonialism, while engaged in a critique of the west, also had a positive or reconstructive theoretical agenda, one that has been taken up in creative ways in postcolonial political thought. Taking cues from the work of Sudipta Kaviraj, Partha Chatterjee, and Mahmood Mamdani, the essay proposes an alternative mode of decolonizing political theory that takes as its central aim the generation of theory from a study of postcolonial politics. It argues for a historically attuned and comparative approach to postcolonial politics that aims to innovate new concepts and reanimate inherited ones. From this perspective, decolonizing political theory is less a recurring critique of Eurocentrism than an effort to shift the terrain of theorizing and thereby reinvigorate the practice of political theory as such.

Magendo: Arbitrage and Ambiguity on an East African Frontier

This article examines the ambiguities of arbitrage, focusing on illegal coffee trade across the Uganda-Kenya border. I show how residents of the borderlands harnessed ordinary tools (gunny sacks, tin cans, and gravity scales) and cultural repertoires (kinship, language, and ritual) to cultivate and capitalize on difference. They reworked territorial jurisdiction, measurement standards, and surface appearances in a form of arbitrage known as magendo. While magendo is an ordinary occurrence at the border, I focus on a particular period in which magendo reached spectacular new levels. The resulting binge economy was characterized by competitive gift-giving and interethnic conviviality, but its excessive margins eventually challenged prevailing notions of moral selfhood, gender relations, and the authority of elder men. Seeing arbitrage not merely as the reserve of high finance but also as a strategy of African frontiers provides a way to connect the anthropology of finance to enduring concerns around the postcolonial politics of borders, gerontocracy, and value. Muhtasari Nakala hii inachunguza utata wa arbitrage. Maandishi yangu yanazingatia biashara wa kahawa mpakani mwa Kenya na Uganda. Katika nakala hii, ninaonyesha jinsi wakazi wa mipakani walitumia zana za kila siku (magunia, madebe, na mizani) na pia mbinu za kitamaduni (ukoo, lugha, na mila) kuzalisha na kukuza tofauti za kisokoni na faida. Aidha wahusika hawa walipinda na kufinyanga dhana kuhusu udhibiti wa mipaka, desturi za kukadiri, na muonekano wa nje kwa kupitia kitendo cha arbitrage: almaarufu kama magendo. Ingawa uchukuzi magendo si taratibu geni kwa uchumi za mipakani, nakala hii inazingatia wakati ambapo uchuuzi wa kahawa ulifikia kilele cha kustaajabisha na kuleta uchumi wa ukwasi. Kwa upande moja msimu huo ulileta urafiki kati ya jamii tofauti na mienendo kama vile mashindano ya kutunukiana zawadi. Kwa upande mwingine, faida za kiajabu ziliibua miangalio mipya kuhusu maswala ya uadilifubinafsi, jinsia katika jamii, na mamlaka ya wazee. Kuelewa arbitrage kama zaidi ya mazoezi ya kifedha, bali pia kama mkakati wa uchumi za mapembezoni, inatupa njia ya kuunganisha anthropolojia ya fedha na masawali ya mipaka baada ya ukoloni, utawala wa wakongwe, na thamani.

From Postcolonialism to Post-Arab Spring

Hamid Dabashi (2012) saw the Arab spring revolutions as a collective act of overcoming the colonial condition and retrieving a repressed cosmopolitan worldliness that has been overshadowed by the contradictions of postcolonial politics. Dabashi posits that the pluralist and egalitarian slogans of protesters were an expression of this worldliness. In this research I assess this claim in the context of Syria. I examine the question: Has this cosmopolitan orientation resurfaced in Syria? I argue that the 2011 Syrian uprising was a retrieval of what Dabashi describes as repressed cosmopolitan worldliness. It was a grassroots attempt to bring an inclusive meaning to Syrianism, consistent with the country’s boundaries and reflective of its ethnic and religious cosmopolitanism. The transformation of the crisis into a global proxy war has resulted in the rise of hundreds of armed groups driven by competing projects that have vacated the revolutionary attempt to redefine Syrianism.

Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction

Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction describes how people around the world have increasingly challenged the idea that Western perspectives are the only ones that count. It examines the history of that challenge, outlining the ideas behind it, and exploring how the histories and cultures of the world can be rethought in new, productive directions. This VSI situates the discussion in wide cultural and geographical contexts. It draws on examples such as the situation of indigenous peoples, of those dispossessed from their lands, Algerian raï music, and global social and ecological movements. This new edition also includes updated material on race, slavery, decoloniality, and the postcolonial politics of gender and sexualities.

Early Marriage in Perspective: Practicing an Ethics of Dialogue with Syrian Refugees in Jordan

This article discusses rationales for development and humanitarian intervention through the lenses of poststructuralist policy analysis and a postcolonial politics of the womb. It aims to show a variety of perspectives on early marriage and the limitations of dominant policy responses. The article argues that humanitarian logics easily blend with developmentalist models, especially in conditions of protracted displacement. The response to the rise of early marriage among Syrians in Jordan mainly consists of educational activities such as awareness raising that are based on imparting knowledge. The article suggests that responses based on an ethics of dialogue may be more adequate to meet refugees’ needs and, second, may help to shift the balance from developmentalist reproductive governance towards realizing the humanitarian goal of identifying and addressing women refugees’ needs.